12 July 2020
Text: Luke 5:1-11 (1 Kings
19:11-21, 1 Pet 3:8-15)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
For
nearly five hundred years, and in a multiplicity of languages, we Lutherans
have asked young and old to answer the question “What is the First Commandment?” The answer is, of course, “You shall have no
other gods.” The next question is, “What
does this mean?” And the answer is: “We
should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
By
the Lake of Gennesaret, we see Simon Peter fear God, in the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ. For Simon’s life was turned on
its head the morning after he “toiled all night and took nothing,” but at the Word
of Jesus, of the preacher who was using Simon’s boat as a podium, something
supernatural happened. By His command,
bending to the will of God, so many fish were caught in Simon’s nets that two of
his boats nearly sank.
His
reaction was indeed fear: “Simon Peter… fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”
Everyone saw this supernatural event and were “astonished.” Simon and his two partners were called to a
career change, to go from catching fish to catching men. They had no idea what this would mean, but
they “feared, loved, and trusted in God above all things,” and “they left
everything and followed Him.”
We
have seen something supernatural today as well, dear friends, though this
miracle must be seen with the eyes of faith. The same Jesus who called Peter and the apostles
to preach the Gospel around the world, has called us to be the Church in this
place, to make disciples by baptizing and teaching, to forgive sinners, to share
the miraculous body and blood of Christ, and to raise the dead to eternal life. And on this day, we witnessed eternal life
given to little Sadie. Like the miracle Simon
Peter witnessed, this supernatural event involved water. It also involved Jesus and the Word. But instead of catching a large number of fish,
we caught a single, small human being today, entrapping her in the lifesaving
net of the Gospel. Her old nature was
drowned, and a new self emerged. The Holy
Spirit descended upon her, and she was truly born again, born from above, born
of water and the Spirit. We watched this
happen right here in real time, in physical space, surrounded by unseen but
present “angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven,” as she was washed
clean in the blood of the Lamb.
And
like Peter, James, and John, like her parents Aimee and Erik, like her sponsors
Emery and Erin, like each one of us here in this holy house, this place of
miracles where the Spirit descends and where Jesus is present – Sadie has become
a disciple, called to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things” – God in
the person of Jesus Christ, whom she follows.
Simon
Peter’s prayer “Depart from me” was refused. Our Lord will not depart from His beloved. He assures us: “Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved.” And when Sadie
grows old enough to sing, she will repeat the words of the hymn: “God’s own
child I gladly say it, I am baptized into Christ.”
We
Christians don’t merely say, “I was baptized,” as if it were a past event that isn’t
relevant to us today. No, we say, “I am
baptized,” for it is in the ever-present. It is ongoing.
Once you are baptized, you are always baptized. It is a reality that can never be undone, any
more than the miraculous catch of fish that Simon and the others saw can somehow
unhappen.
Sadie
is baptized into Christ, and so are you, dear friends. You are a forgiven child of God, and you are a
child of paradise. And it is because you
have been chosen and brought into the Lord’s family that you can call God, “Our
Father,” that you can plead the blood of Christ as your atonement for being a “sinful
man,” and you can indeed heed the call of the Holy Spirit to lead you to the
cross, to guide you to the Word of God, to draw you to the Sacraments, and in
death, to carry you to Abraham’s bosom. And
until Sadie is old enough on her own to “leave everything and follow Him,” Erik
and Aimee, Emery and Erin, her grandparents and extended family, and each one
of us in her church family will have the responsibility to pray for her, to
teach her, to provide an example of faithfulness for her, to show her what
really matters in this life: to be a disciple of Jesus.
The
same Simon Peter who asked in vain for Jesus to depart from him, teaches us, by
the Spirit’s inspiration, how to live out the Christian faith and life. He teaches all Christians young and old to “have
unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” St. Peter instructs us to remain in the faith
by turning from evil, doing good, and by seeking peace.
But
even then, we are warned of persecution, of suffering “for righteousness’ sake.” The apostle tells us that in such suffering, “you
will be blessed.” If Sadie lives a long
life and if the Lord has not yet returned, she may well see the twenty-second
century on this side of the grave. Her
world will be filled with inventions and wonders we cannot even imagine, but
also terrible things that we can’t even conceive. Through it all, she, like all of us, will
depend on Christ’s beloved bride, the Holy Church, for sustenance and strength
to walk the walk as a disciple of Jesus. She may see persecution for the sake of her
confession, as might any of us here. But
St. Peter, who left his boats and nets behind to follow Jesus says, “Have no
fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as
holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason for the hope that is in you.”
We
must prepare Sadie to make that good confession, that she may be a beacon of
the love of Christ to lead others to salvation, that she too will read the Holy
Scriptures to her own children and ask them the questions: “What is the First Commandment?”
and “What does this mean?”
For
like Elijah, dear friends, we understand that the Lord works through soft
words, even a “low whisper” uttered by God almighty, whose still, small voice
is more powerful than strong winds, earthquakes, and fire, stronger than the
brag and bluster of this world, mightier than money and worldly fame.
For
that “low whisper” of God’s Word, spoken over little Sadie as water was poured
upon her head, said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.” We all saw the
miracle. We all bore witness to the
supernatural. And though we are all
sinful men, we do not pray for the Lord to depart from us, but rather to abide
with us, to abide with Sadie, to be her God whom she will “fear, love, and
trust in above all things” both in this life, and in the world to come – even
unto eternity. Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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